Visit Alaska which is known for glaciers, national parks, the vast wilderness, Northern lights, midnight sun, and cruises. Many believe that Alaska only has two weather conditions: cold and freezing cold. Contrary to popular beliefs, Alaska is pretty warm in the winter season (May to September). Temperatures can warm-up from 70°F (21.1°C) to 100°F (37.8°C), depending on the location.
The indigenous Inuit inhabitants of the Arctic coastal regions have had a long and intimate relationship with the harsh climates of northern Alaska. The Inuit, also called the Eskimos, have more than 20 different words for snow, depending on which dictionary is consulted.
The West Greenlandic dictionary lists 49 words for snow and ice, while the Kobuk Iñupiaq Dictionary, used in schools throughout northwestern Alaska, lists 23 words in the Inuit language, known as Iñupiaq, to describe snow in its many different forms.
There are three specific words for snow on the ground, while the other 20 describe a myriad of snowy conditions, including melting ice, particular snow to use for drinking water, and a variety of snow descriptions as it is falling. Unlike English, Iñupiaq is a polysynthetic language, meaning that there are dozens of affixes to add nuance to the meaning of a simple noun like snow.
Snow and wildlife 🏞 🐻
Described as “America’s last frontier,” Alaska is teeming with wild animals living on boundless expanses of unblemished terrain. Visit Alaska which is surrounded by rugged outback wilderness featuring several major mountain ranges crossing portions of the state, all running roughly parallel with the Pacific coast.
The continuous cordillera that extends from the southern tip of Cape Horn all the way through the Americas terminates in northern Alaska. Between the major ranges are lesser mountains, broad valley, and interior basins.
The primary attraction for most visitors to Alaska is the state’s stunning natural features and its fabulous wildlife. Alaska is still a place where the ecosystems remain intact and animal migration routes go uninterrupted.
For those who live here, out every door is a short route to wilderness. With less than one person per square mile, and almost all residents concentrated in small urban areas, enormous regions of the state are completely free of human activity.
For perspective, Alaska is three and a half times larger than California, while having less than two percent of its population. Alaska is also famous for the northern lights, or aurora borealis, primarily visible during the long nights of winter, and the “midnight sun” around the summer solstice.
Denali (Mount McKinley) 🛤
Visit Alaska and get to know Mount McKinley, named after assassinated U.S. president William McKinley in 1897, is one of the most impressive mountains in the world. Efforts in the 20th century to officially rename the peak Denali, the native Alaskan name, have been unsuccessful, yet most people still refer to the mountain by its traditional name (pronounced duh-NAH-lee).
As the highest peak in North America, towering almost from sea level to 20,320 feet (6,773 m), Denali has been called “America’s rival to Everest.”
The mountain is regarded as the largest continental mountain in the world, with an impressive 3.5-mile (5.6-km) vertical rise. Denali is surrounded by a closely related grouping of peaks within a larger range, considered the largest massif in the world.
The Alaska Range where Denali dominates also contains massive snowy summits that would dwarf the Colorado Rockies, but they appear no more than foothills beside Denali’s majestic bulk.
Winter temperatures can plunge to below -75°F (-50°C), and midsummer temperatures on the mountain regularly fall below zero. Denali is such a huge mountain that it creates its own weather around the upper elevations. The Alaskan air is thin, yet superbly clear between storms.
Details of the mountain can be seen from afar and Denali is visible from Fairbanks over a hundred miles away. The frequently cloud-covered peak appears in stark contrast to the blue sky and its glacier-clad slopes. The perpetual snow is deep atop the mountain, occasionally hundreds of feet thick in some places.
Glaciers carve out deep, troughlike gorges and fill them with ice as they make their slow descent down the slopes of the mountain. The longest glacier in Denali National Park is the 35-mile (56-km) long Muldrow Glacier—extending from the northern flank of Mount McKinley to within a mile of the park road—a virtual river of ice.
Each year the Alaska Range slowly grows taller as the southern edge of the Denali fault line continues to thrust itself upwards, overriding the northern plate and pushing the valley floor ever downward. On the slopes of this enormous mountain roam wild grizzly bears, Dall sheep, moose, and caribou.
Sitka
Located on Sitka Sound, the city of about 8,500 residents is known for its Tlingit culture and picturesque remnants of its Russian heritage, including the onion-shaped domes and gold-colored crosses of the beloved Saint Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral.
The city and borough limits include most of Baranof Island, where the city of Sitka is located, along with south Chichagof Island and many other small, forested islands along the coast.
Pick up a map from the Sitka Visitor Information Center to embark on a walking tour highlighting the city’s history and culture. There are 22 buildings in Sitka on the National Register of Historic Places including the Russian Blockhouse, Russian Bishop’s House, Princess Maksoutoff’s Grave, and Baranof Castle State Historic Site to name a few, so there’s plenty of history to explore on a walk through
town.
Getting to Sitka
There are no bridges from the mainland to Baranof Island, so the only way to access Sitka are the regular ferries or scheduled flights from Alaska’s capital Juneau. Sitka’s location on a remote island makes transportation to the city inherently difficult, inconvenient and expensive.
By air, the Rocky Gutierrez Airport on Japonski Island offers regular service from Alaska Airlines and charter carrier Harris Aircraft Services. Flight delays due to Sitka’s weather are frequent. The Sitka airport is located on Japonski Island, which is connected to Baranof Island by the John O’Connell Bridge.
Visit Alaska and see many cruise ships dock in the deep-water harbor of Sitka and tourists are allowed an afternoon to explore the town and visit the Sitka National Historical Park just outside of town.